……“Just
before he had left his gross body, one devotee Keshav
Nayak who was emotionally charged, asked “Maharaj,
since you are going, who will give us protection?”.
Swami Samarth gave him a pair of his sandals to worship.
He told him “in future I will be staying at Shirdi
in district Ahmednagar”. Another devotee, Krishna
Ali Bagkar decided to go to Akkalkot and worship the padukas
of Swami Samarth.

Thereafter he got
a dream appearance of Swami Samarth who told him “now
I am staying at Shirdi, go there and worship me”.
Bagkar went to Shirdi where he stayed for six months.
Later, when he wanted to take leave of Shri Sai and go
to Akkalkot again Shri Sai told him “what is there
in Akkalkot, Maharaj of Akkalkot is staying here”.
Bagkar realised that there was no difference between Swami
Samarth and Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi as he recalled his
earlier dream.

The divine game (leela) of Swami Samarth did not end with
his Mahasamadhi. His devotees continue to experience the
miracles of his visible and invisible help even till today.
It is exactly like the experience received by the devotees
of Sai Baba of Shirdi after his Mahasamadhi in 1918. Many
people have authenticated his appearance in physical form
before them. These people are not the faith-blind rural
folk. Many of them are well educated people like doctors,
teachers etc. For example, Dr. S.V. Marathe, a private
medical practitioner of Pune once underwent treatment
in a Chest Hospital at a place Aundh in 1964.

Many of his friends
were anxious to come and visit him. At this juncture,
Swami Samarth appeared before many of his friends in a
dream and gave the same message to all of them. He asked
them not to worry about Dr. Marathe, as he was under His
(Swami Samarth’s) protection and also not to come
to Aundh. Once the doctor’s monetary difficulties
were miraculously solved when he prayed to Swami Samarth.
Having solved the problems, Swami Samarth appeared in
his dream and demanded his dakshina saying “give
me pedas” , exactly the way Shri Sainath is famous
for asking for dakshina.

Hundreds of devotees continue to have miraculous experiences
about the Perfect Master even today. But his miracles
and those of Shri Sainath are so alike that one would
be drawn to the conclusion that they are not two masters
but are one and, perhaps, the ONLY ONE.".........

Q & A

At times our
faith in Baba gets shaken up with the blow of a wind.
How do we stop it and do not let it happen to us?

For these who want
to come closer to Baba the only way is to keep unshakable
faith in Him under all circumstances good, bad or neutral.
But some people come to the Sadguru only with the desire
of worldly gains or exhibit their devotion with such expectations
hidden in their hearts. Sometimes, when their desires
are not fulfilled or when they have to suffer the consequences
of their own Prarabdha (past actions), they start blaming
the Master and tend to lose faith. During the period of
any Avtaar or Sadguru every wish of every man has never
been fulfilled. Sadguru, never fulfills those desires,
which would become barrier in the spiritual progress of
the devotees. His hand can be seen behind both, the fulfillment
and non fulfillment of the desires of the devotees. Therefore,
one who can experience Baba both, in pleasure and pain,
is the true devotee. The pleasure seekers are bound to
deviate from the path as they don’t seek the love
of the Master but the material benefits; they wish to
get from Him.

……The
great question in the case of the lovers of Baba is, how
can we possibly describe the extent of love and its intensity.
Love is not a thing measured by a thermometer or by the
quantity of good or sacrifices rendered, though all these
do count. We may roughly begin a statement of how love
works and then deal with Purandhare’s case.

When
two persons are greatly attached to each other we find
that no other expression would describe the situation
than love. Friendship, admiration, gratitude, loyalty,
faithfulness, regard, worship, all these blend together
in many a case, as it did in Purandhare’s case also.
So, let us begin an account of how Purandhare’s
love began.

In the case of most
people approaching Baba within the last decade of his
life, they were impelled to go to Baba by hearing accounts
of Baba. Das Ganu was mostly the source of this inspiration.
Das Ganu, though himself not pre-eminent in his love for
Baba, had the wonderful charm of eloquence and some amount
of real bhakti. He was an expert in the Kirtankars’
line, that is, in telling Harikathas about saints and
holy persons.

He generally began
with an account of the day’s topic, say, Tukaram
or Namdev, but he always kept Sai Baba’s picture
close to him and never failed to refer to Sai Baba as
the present day illustration of the greatness of the bhakti
of the ancient or mediaeval saints. He would say, ‘Here
is Tukaram’s great love and greatness in surrendering
to God and getting the most marvelous benefits. If you
wish to know if there is any such person now in the flesh
who can give you the same benefit, then I will tell you
'Here is this Sai Baba. He is the present day representative
of mediaeval saintship.

What Ramdas was to
Sivaji, that Sai Baba is to innumerable people who approach
him in the proper spirit'. Then he would give an account
of some of the marvelous lilas and dealings of Baba with
his devotees. Thus, besides the fact that thousands attended
his kirtan, his account and inspiration would pass on
from one to another, and after his kirtan people, having
learnt of Sai Baba, would rush to see him. It is rarely
that one gets a chance to meet a Tukaram in the flesh,
a Namdev in the flesh, and if one gets a chance, surely
one does not wish to lose it.

So, having heard of
Sai Baba from Das Ganu and others, Purandhare’s
nature was fired with the ambition of contacting Sai Baba.
Purandhare’s own nature was very simple and highly
emotional. He was a plain man and did not care to twist
and turn phrases in describing things. When he found that
Sai Baba was a powerful saint living in the flesh and
was showering benefits like Ramdas, Akkalkote Maharaj
and other Samarthas, he naturally wanted to take the earliest
opportunity to go to Shirdi and that he did.

In his case, going
to Shirdi was not an easy matter. He was only a petty
clerk on Rs.35 per month. He had to support a family of
four or five including his mother his wife, his brother
and a child. Yet, the spark of enthusiasm in his heart
did not find these to be difficulties. He fixed upon a
certain day to leave for Shirdi, and if we see what he
did, we will see exactly what love does.

He was naturally to
go with his wife and mother. But his young child was unwell
and the mother thought that it was foolish to risk taking
a little child with fever for such a great distance –
Bombay to Shirdi. Yet, Purandhare would not brook a denial
of his wishes. He must go and he would leave and take
the child with him inspite of his mother's protest. Look
at this! He is taking risks with his only child’s
health. And what for? To meet the great Sai.

The burning enthusiasm
of his love for Sai bore down all considerations of ordinary
precaution or medical advice and they did go. His love
was accompanied by intense faith. So Baba justified his
faith and his love in what followed. When the child was
taken with an illness to Shirdi, it quickly regained health
instead of suffering. This is a chamatkar of Baba and
it is these chamatkars which first tell upon an emotional
mind. Upasani Baba says,

Aneka Ascruta
Atarkysa Lila Vilasam

Samavishkrita
Isana Bhasvat Prabhavam

in his Sai Mahima Stotra, composed in 1912. That is, Sai
Baba’s divine or superhuman character was evidenced
by innumerable and unheard of miraculous achievements
and chamatkars. Yet he was

Ahambhavahinam
Prasannatmabhavam
Namami Iswaram Sadgurum Sainatham

Purandhare found that
his child's health far from being ruined by the journey
was set right completely at Shirdi. This in itself was
sufficient to constitute one of those Aneka Ascruta Atarkysa
Lila Vilasaih. Here is Baba's superhuman power. Here is
kindness towards those that flock to his feet.

If supreme power
and kindness are combined, what more is wanted to give
us the idea of God's help? So, Purandhare was made firmer
in his faith and deeper in his love of Sai Baba by this
occurrence and this was not the only one. At every step
he had full faith in Baba's omniscience and omnipotence
and he found that his faith was fully justified by the
subsequent events.

Baba knew exactly
when Purandhare should start, when he should stay at a
place like Nasik, a holy place of pilgrimage which his
mother wanted to visit, and how long he should stay there.
When Purandhare acted upon Baba's directions, it seemed
to several that he was running foolish risks, but everything
that Baba said occurred exactly as he said it would. He
was told to stay one day at Nasik and to proceed on the
next day.

When he went there,
he found that cholera was attacking some members of his
family, such as his brother, and he was advised to get
away. But he remembered that Baba had said that he must
stay one day at Nasik. So he did stay. On the next day
with ill-health in the family, he did proceed and reached
his own home quite safe. Thus he found that he was perfectly
safe in following Baba's directions to the very letter.

This confirms a man
in the extent of reverence and faith that he has in Baba.
Reverence and faith combined with thankfulness for the
resulting good, form an excellent basis for the development
of love. In this way, his love for Baba got more and more
deep-rooted and his faith, being justified, was the means
for so many others catching on to that faith.

Baba's kindness towards
him was remarkable even from the beginning. Why should
Baba care so much for this petty clerk who went to Shirdi
for the first time? That is the question which anyone
would ask. And one would like to know the root of that
love.

The root of love
is not always traceable, but in this particular case we
have Baba's own statement to help us. When Purandhare's
mother told Baba to look after him, Baba's reply was,
‘I have known him for generations. I have guarded
him from his infancy in front and behind. I will not eat
even a bit of food without him’. That is, as much
as to say that Baba remembered the love relations between
Purandhare and himself in former lives.

Last month on the 7th of June 2008, we had the launch
of our high fashion garments boutique "Samaira"
at Malad in Mumbai. The president of the local cable TV
network Mr. Paresh was also a guest at the event and at
the same time he was covering the event to air it on the
local cable network. He knew that my family and I are
Sai devotees, so he had bought a Sai Baba idol as a gift
for us on the occasion of the launch of the boutique.

He had gift wrapped
the idol. But due to preoccupation with covering the event,
he forgot to bring the Sai Baba idol for us. A few days
later he even called my sister Vinita to inform about
the gift but did not mention what the gift was. Nobody
other than his wife knew that there was a Sai Baba idol
gift wrapped for the owners of the boutique, kept at his
house. Again, due to our busy schedules Paresh forgot
to bring the Sai Baba idol to us.

On 29th of July 2008, Tuesday afternoon as Paresh's father
was asleep in his house he had a dream in which he heard
the door bell ringing and on opening the door saw Sri
Sai Baba standing giving darshan. Baba asked him why have
you kept me closed inside a box? Take me to my children
for whom you have brought me. Immediately then the telephone
bell rang and he (Paresh's father) woke up.

He ran towards the
main gate of his house and then called his entire family
and asked them where is Sai Baba? He narrated his dream
to his family members and they were all wondering when
and how have they closed and kept Baba in a box? Then
Pareshs's wife after thinking for a while, suddenly realised
that the gift for the boutique is a Sai Baba idol packed
and gift wrapped in a box. Everyone in their family was
astonished to see that gift. Pareshs's father got darshan
of Sri Sai Baba and Sri Sai Baba blessed my entire family
by coming into our lives and home. We received the idol
from them and then performed puja and abhishek of Baba
on His arrival.

Sai Baba is on "Jagrit Samadhi" and is continuously
showering His love and blessings to His devotees and to
the world. He takes care of all His devotees all the time.
This was His biggest leela for me and my family and we
got blessed. Just by surrendering completely to Sai and
following his two divine words Shradha Saburi we will
come closer and closer to our Perfect Master, our Sadguru,
our God, Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi.

There
was a time, not too long ago, when I proudly thought
with a pretentious prayer,that I was a Good Disciple of
Baba
and all of a sudden, He sent me a Test,
and I did not pass, and my Bubble burst!

I then read many a religious
book and studiously
the lessons and preaching’s of great Saints
And again I thought I was a worthy Disciple of Baba
And again a test He sent, in the midst of my material
peace
And again I did not pass, and my new Bubble burst!

Restlessly, I then went to
famous Temples and Mosques
and in my quest, met many a religious Saint
And I improved I thought, to be Baba’s worthy Disciple
And as usual, He sent me another test
and history repeated itself. I failed!

Of what use I thought, in a
pensive mood,
is reading books and Divine Preaching’s
of what use is my going to Temples and Mosques
and meeting many a religious Saint
if a test by Baba I cannot pass?

And then one day, while I was
praying
In the puja room, it struck me quite clearly that
It is not enough to go to Temples and Mosques
To read books and spiritual teachings
To meet Saints and listen to discourses…

All you need to do is to live
according to Baba’s laws
And to chant his name with love and devotion, as
given so simply in Sai Satcharita to follow.
And guided by Him, you will be on the right path, surely
and all the tests you will happily take and pass, and
truly
you can say, you are a worthy Disciple of Baba!

It is not ordinary
ash. It is the ash from the dhuni, which Baba lit by his
yogic power. Hence the Udi has all the powers of Baba.
It has banished the agonies and cured incurable diseases
of innumerable persons. Here are a few real instances.

A certain doctor's
nephew had bone-cancer. The doctor tried all remedies,
including surgical operation, but in vain. With acute
pain, the boy cried pitiably. At last the doctor brought
the boy to Baba and threw all burden on him. Daily Baba
placed a blessing glance on the wound and applied Udi
on it. Within a week, the boy was completely cured.

Another doctor had
a guinea-worm in his leg, which was terribly swollen and
caused intense pain. He approached Baba with a request
to release him from his mortal coil and thus end his agony
for good. Baba daily applied Udi to his leg and also administered
it orally. One day, an attendant inadvertently stepped
on the doctor's affected leg with the result that the
wound burst open and the guinea-worms was driven out.
The doctor was soon cured.

There are countless
instances of this kind. But I will tell you one, deserving
special mention. Nanasaheb Chandorkar, one of the earliest
devotees of Baba, was a mamlatdar at Jamner, about 24
miles from Jalgaon in Khandesh. One can go upto Jalgaon
by railway and then take a tonga. Nanasabeb's daughter,
Maina had come to Jamner for delivery. For fortyeight
hours, she was in labour and her very life was in danger.
Nanasaheb was appealing to Baba to come to her succour.

Sai Baba as if 'heard'
it in Shirdi. Ramgir, a resident bhakta, was then inspired
to go to his village in Khandesh. He came to ask for Baba's
permission. Baba said, "Yes. Start immediately. But
first go to Nanasaheb at Jamner, givehim Udi and Arati,
and then proceed home".

Baba gave him a packet
of Udi from the dhuni with his own hands and the Arati
on a piece of paper to be recited at Maina's bedside.
Ramgir took the two things, but, in a tone of anxiety,
he asked, "Baba, I have only two rupees with me.
With this much I can barely go to Jalgaon. But how could
I make a detour to Jamner and thence to my place ?"
"You need not worry," Said Baba, "You only
go to Jalgaon. Everything will be arranged thereafter."

With firm faith in Baba, Ramgir started. He had to pay
Rs. 1-14-0 for railwav ticket and only two annas were
left with him. About midnight the train reached Jalgaon
and Ramgir got down. Just then a sepoy in Khaki uniform
approached him and said "Sir, are you are Ramgir
from Shirdi?" Ramgir said he was. "Then come
along," said the sepoy, Nanasaheb has sent me with
a tonga for you." Ramgir thought that as Baba had
hinted he must have sent a word to Nanasaheb and asked
him to make these arrangements.

The sepoy gave him
a few snacks, which he said, were sent bv Nanasaheb. Then
the tonga started and by dawn, it arrived at Jamner. The
sepoy, pointing to a distant building, said, "That
is Nanasaheb's office." Ramgir alighted there to
ease himself and went behind a bush. But as he came out,
what did he find ? No horses, no carriage, no sepoy. All
had disappeared. Dumbfounded, he went to Nanasaheb's office
and, obtaining Nanasabeb's address, went there.

Saluting Nanasaheb,
he said, "Baba has sent me here from Shirdi and has
given you these things." A thrill went through Nanasaheb
on hearing this. He said, 'Oh Baba, Baba! What should
I say to you? I called your name here and hearing my call
in Shirdi, you at once ran here in the form of these things.
A million pranams to you! "

Nanasaheb applied
the Udi to his daughter and put a little in her mouth
too. Then he sat by her bedside, reciting the arati. And
would you believe it? In half an hour, Maina delivered
safely. Ramgir was waiting outside. Nanasabeb came out
and thanked him profoundly. Eagerly Ramgir asked, "Nana,
your tonga brought me to Jamner all right. But then as
I got down to ease myself, it suddenly vanished. Where
is that tonga ?" "Which tonga ?" asked
the puzzled Nana. "Your tonga which you had sent
for me to Jalgaon Station. Your sepoy met me there, gave
me your delicious snacks and brought me here with great
speed."

With tears of gratitude,
Nanasaheb said, "Ramgir, I had not the faintest idea
that you were coming. So how could I have sent the tonga
? This is all no doubt done by Baba. How unbounded is
your kripa, Oh mother Sai !"
Later, Nanasaheb himself related this whole incident to
the people assembled at Shirdi. It therefore bears the
stamp of authority.

Life
is a cycle created by God and if you try to change it
by incorporating your own innovations, you may break the
flow of this cycle. You may either increase the speed
of this cycle, and rush to your destiny by losing out
the best moments of life or you may completely puncture
it and bring your life to a standstill. Either way, the
underlying truth is – you will not enjoy the ride
in anyway. Hence, never try to change the law of nature
– it is indeed, written by God.

Vishal, Mumbai

God will respond
to your prayers for succor only when you respond sympathetically
to the needs of others. Life should not be wasted in selfish
activities, blind to others' distress and deaf to others'
groans. Treat joy and grief equally. This according to
Sri Krishna Sai is equanimity. Practice this equanimity
- this is the way to win His Grace. You may not be rewarded
materially for your compassionate acts but there is no
greater reward than the joy that you derive by alleviating
others sorrow.

I find the
Heritage of Shirdi Sai magazine very enriching. You are
really doing a great job. The Sai Heritage E-zine is a
very good effort and we feel tremendously enriched by
reading it.

The article by Satpathyji is so simple and clear that
it actually makes a mark on the mind. I have read this
chapter so many times in Sai Satcharitra but never understood
it so well. Indeed, only a Guru can explain it like this.
Keep up the good work!

Ashalatha, USA

Thanks a lot
for such an enlightening Maha Samadhi Message, Sai Ezine
Vol 66. I really liked the statement "We usually
say we forgive someone/some act but cannot forget their
mistake". May Baba be with us and guide us in everything
we do.

With the blessings and grace of Shri Shirdi Sai , the
first ever online Shirdi Sai baba radio will be broadcasting,-
leela's of Baba thru His bhajans in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi
and Gujrati, Sai Mahima , Sai amritwani, Sai mantra ,Sai
Satcharitra prayaan ,discourses ,Geeta Gyan , Vishnu Sahasaram
and much much more. I will be hosting it from this thursday.
I will also be sharing my experiences and experiences
of other Sai devotees thru this media.

This is the first
ever online radio dedicated to the lotus feet of Shri
Shirdi Sai baba. Just by listening to this radio, Sai
devotees will feel the bliss of Baba and His leela's around
them. You can go to http://debu7366.blogspot.com/
to listen to this radio [ password- omsrisai ]or for knowing
the weekly program guide and to post your request, suggestions
,feedback and comments- plz visit http://sairadio.blogspot.com/
. You will also find a lot of important information at
this site in the coming weeks.

Shri Shirdi Sai Baba
Sansthan, Canada, (Toronto) cordially invite Devotees
to attend - volunteer - Receive Baba's Grace and be Immersed
in Divine Bliss on the AUSPICIOUS day of THURSDAY 6:30PM
at the GUR MANDIR 207 Queen's Plate Drive., Etobicoke
(South of Steeles on the East side of Highway 27 on Queen's
Plate)

Invocation Ceremony
of Baba's Divine Blessings will be conducted with Sacred
Ashtotra Namavali to the accompaniment of Bhajans, Satcharita
Paraayan, Naivedaya Offerings Dhoop Aarti and Mahaprasaad
(Preeti Bhoj) Devotees are welcome to bring a dish for
Naivedaya Offerings as inspired by Baba. Details at www.shirdisainath.org

By the grace of our
Shirdi Sai we are happy to announce the inauguration of
Shri Shirdi Sai Temple in LA region in the city of Montebello.
We need the support of all Sai Devotees. For more information
please email krishna@shirdisaila.org

The North America Shirdi Sai Temple is located at 700
James Burgess Road,Suwanee GA 30024.Temple is open all
seven days of the week. Baba's Kakad Aarti, Abhishek Puja,
Madhyan Aarti, Dhoop Aarti and Shej Aarti are performed
every day. Bhajans are sung on all thursday and sunday
evenings. For information regarding the daily schedule,
temple activities and events please visit Mandir's website:
www.templeofpeace.org
or call 678-455-7200

This is to inform all
of you that we have a Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in Malaysia.
Here we have daily prayers and special prayers on thursday
mornings 9.00am and bhajans and satsang from 8 pm onwards.
Also breakfast, lunch and dinner, cooked by our seva-group
is provided to all devotees. other than that first thursday
of the month we have talk on spirituality, second thursday
on health, third thursday satsang on Sai Satcharitra,
fourth thursday talk on general topics, by experts in
the respective fields. Lot of charitable activities are
conducted by our Centre,like sponsoring immediate services
to childrens\' homes, old-folks homes, sick and needy,
etc. etc.

The dream of having
a full fledged exclusive Shirdi Sai Temple in Singapore,
will soon come true. Thanks to the efforts of a Sai devotee
in making this happen. The Shirdi Sai Baba Centre in Singapore
is now live with the 3rd floor function hall, Sri Vadapathira
Kaliamman temple, being secured and converted to a full
fledged exclusive Shirdi Sai worship centre. The Centre
will be devoted to celebrating the life & teachings
of Shirdi Sai Baba only. For more information visit our
website http://www.saisansthan.com/

You may have given many different gifts to your
friends and loved ones, but giving a subscription of "Heritage
of Shirdi Sai" magazine would be a unique gift as it connects
the people you love with SADGURU SHIRDI SAI and brings
His blessings with the gift.

Topic of Discussion feature is
intended to initiate useful discussions on topics related
to Shirdi Sai Philosophy and His teachings, Guru Tradition,
Teachings of the Sadguru, the nature and functions
of the Perfect Masters, true devotion, qualification
of a disciple, etc.

Send your poem, article or drawing on SHIRDI SAI
BABA and the best ones will be showcased in Heritage of
Shirdi Sai Magazine and in the Children section on our
website. Anybody upto 18 years of age can send in the
material.

In order to ensure that Heritage Of
Shirdi Sai sustains itself and is available to devotees
at affordable rates, we do solicit advertisements. However,
in keeping with the magazine’s philosophy and approach,
the advertisements would be displayed as banners and
not creative commercial product.